High-End Customer Service from a Luxury Global Brand: How Fisher & Paykel Powers World-Class Customer Communications with Vonage

As a global appliances manufacturer, Fisher & Paykel is committed to providing an excellent customer experience, but delivering prompt customer service across multiple countries in a consistent manner can be challenging. The company needed a fast and efficient way to reach its customers no matter where they are in the world. 

“Today’s customers want to be responded to instantly. They want regular updates from businesses and, more importantly, a two-way communications channel that allows them to share their concerns and feedback quickly and easily,” said Fisher & Paykel Appliances EVP Marketing and Customer Experience, Rudi Khoury. “With Vonage APIs we are able to communicate with customers promptly and create a unique experience giving them control at their fingertips. Vonage also helps Fisher & Paykel make the customer journey – from booking a technician and confirming the appointment to evaluating our service – a seamless process and closes any gaps in customer communications.” 

Vonage APIs allow companies like Fisher & Paykel to instantly reach customers through their preferred channels at reduced costs, enabling businesses to effectively communicate with their customers and create a better customer experience. Embedding the Vonage Messages API within Fisher & Paykel’s platform provides customers with instant maintenance support notifications via SMS, as well as confirmations and reminders of all technician appointments, including self-service links for customers to easily cancel or reschedule the appointment. 

Global Connections, Personal Solutions

Across industries, personalized digital experiences continue to play a huge role in engaging with and retaining customers. By prioritizing customers’ digital journeys and creating new ways to serve customers through technology, brands will be able to meet - and exceed - customer expectations in a post-pandemic world. Fisher & Paykel knows the value of exceeding customer expectations and found the right solutions with Vonage. 

“The biggest challenge we faced was finding an API provider that offered a truly global solution. While there are a number of global providers, Vonage was able to offer us the coverage we needed to support the markets we operate in,” recalls Khoury. “We needed the ability to operate a two-way SMS system, across all of our global markets, and there was a gap in the service offering of some providers we considered. We were able to send SMS notifications, but there was no ability for the customer to reply.”

“The Vonage Messages API enables us to offer a consistent self-service capability for our customers via SMS all around the world. Critically, Vonage also allows us to integrate the Messages API with our existing Salesforce system so that when our customers book, confirm, remind, cancel or reschedule we can record and manage this data from our existing platforms.”

For Fisher & Paykel, speed of implementation was key, and thanks to the flexibility and agility of the Vonage platform, the transition was quick and seamless. With this challenge solved, the Fisher & Paykel team is free to innovate further, implementing new and better customer connections through the channels they prefer.

“We have recently engaged with Vonage on a pilot to integrate WhatsApp into our service offering. Not only will this give our customers another platform for them to communicate with us, it will also allow them to voice record their requests, coming straight through to our existing platform, and for our customer service agents to do so in return,” Khoury notes. “The real potential here is for more personal, human contact – hearing the voice of your customer service agent at a time that suits the customer and allows them to get on with their day without the need to sit in a call queue.”

Focus on the Customer, Above All

Collaboration and focus on customer experience - that’s the Vonage way. With the Vonage team focused on providing Fisher & Paykel with the tools and support it needs, Fisher & Paykel can focus on what’s most important - its customers. 

“Every interaction we have had with Vonage to date has been exceptional. They offer us dedicated account management, are proactive in looking for ways to innovate, and support us in looking at new channels and better ways of working,” Khoury said. “The customer support network is very strong, and means we can pick up the phone and talk to somebody whenever we need support.”

As a leader in customer service, focused on innovation, Fisher & Paykel is always looking for new and better ways for its customers to self-serve, at a time that best suits them. Vonage APIs enable the company to not only find the right self-service channels, but to optimize them so that the Fisher & Paykel customer experience matches its luxury premium brand and products at every touchpoint.

“As a luxury premium brand, our customers expect world class communication and for us to be reachable in the ways that work best for them,” Khoury explains. “The feedback we get from our customers – also triggered via SMS through Vonage – is that our service is now best in class.”

Discover how the Vonage Messages API can upgrade your customer experience.